Crystal Souls and Other Stories

Everything in the valley is dying. The plants, the animals, the people. Disease is everywhere, and people are losing hope.

Levels 1-10. Rated E.
By Spiderweb Software

Rating:

Playability - 2
          1 Points
Plot - 4,3
          1.75 Points
Gameplay - 3,2,3
          1.6 Points
Presentability - 2,3,3
          1.33 Points
The Replay Factor - 2
          .5 Points
Novelty - 4
          1 Points
Scripting - 2
          .5 Points
Bugs - 0,0,0

Lenarian Rating: 6.68/10

Review:

Okay, you’d best not be reading this before playing it. Seriously. You shouldn’t even be looking at this site before playing it.
It’s the generic Spiderweb small beginning: your Party starts off with great hopes, get posted to the middle of nowhere, and eventually save the day. You know what, if it wasn’t such a successful formula, I’d call it cheesy.
There’s not much I can add, as this is the only non-registered scenario available. meaning that all of you should have played it, and therefore all of you have your own opinions already. For me, this is the standard for all that comes after.
You may have noticed that it gets a “higher” rating on the Lenarian Scale. There’s a reason for that: this is a good scenario. There will be good scenarios that are better, good scenarios that are worse, and then everything else is crap. The fact that you get a full point for being able to both die in and win a scenario boosts just about everything, but frankly, when you consider some available scenarios, it’s a needed measure.
Consensus: Consider this among par for all third-party scenarios.
Really? I had to rate this? Really?

All Adventurers Must Register!

Levels 1-5. Rated E.
By Nemesis

Scoring:

Playability - 2
          1 Point
Plot - 2,0
          .5 Points
Gameplay - 0,2,3
          1 Points
Presentability - 3,3,3
          1.5 Points
The Replay Factor - 0
          0 Points
Novelty - 3
          .75 Points
Scripting - 1
          .25 Points.
Bugs - 0,0,0

Lenarian Rating: 5.0/10

Review:

I’d recently installed Blades onto a new computer and this was to be the first scenario that I’d play on this computer. I created a new party and opened up the scenario: It began with the great Shareware Demon, announcing that I was crossing into territory I should not, and that I must perform the Ritual of Registration. Great into!
And then I noticed that little message in the bottom of the screen reading “unregistered copy”. Ten minutes of hunting down and moving the appropriate data file later, I went in for real.
Pay your dues to the man and get rid of that pesky Shareware Demon once and for all. Short and to the point, only on Hard and Torment did it require some alchemy skill and literally cutting a few corners to beat. Design is pretty, and aside from its general lack of anything meaningful to anyone outside of the design community, the only thing that it’s missing is a certain cough travelling researcher cough and/or his quiet associate cough cough.
Consensus: Nemesis should be flogged, drawn, quartered, and have his remains beaten into oblivion with a wet noodle.
Understand, that the scenario recieved the rating that it has not because it’s any good, but because it’s a well-designed scenrio.

[Insert Description Here]

Levels 1-1. Rated E.
By Dallerdin

SCORING:

Playablity: 1.
          .5 Points
Plot: 0,0.
          0 Points
Gameplay: 0,0,2.
          .4 Points
Presentability: 2,2,2
          .5 Points
The Replay Factor: 4.
          1 Points
Novelty: 3.
          .75 Points
Scripting: 1.
          .25 Points
Bugs: 0,0,0.
          -0 Points.

Lenarian Rating: 3.4 / 10

REVIEW:

It’s a brilliant gag scenario.
Concensus: Get your hands on it and enjoy. 
I mean it. You just can’t play through it enough.

Wiz 1 Proving Grounds - Trebor, Werdna and the rest of the crew.

Levels 25-40. Rated T.
By Michael G. Slack

SCORING:

Playablity: 2.
     1 Points
Plot: 2,2.
     1 Points
Gameplay: 2,0,2.
     .8 Points
Presentability: 1,1,1
     .5 Points
The Replay Factor: 2.
     .5 Points
Novelty: 3.
     .5 Points
Scripting: 1.
     .25 Points
Bugs: Benefit of the doubt, 0,0. 
     -0 Points.

Lenarian Rating: 3.55 / 10

REVIEW:

It’s a port of some abandonware game that I’d never heard of until I was told that this was actually a port. Go figure.
The Party is hired to dungeon crawl and kill a sorcerer.
Run up to stuff and kill it. Find a corner in a secret passage and wait for your health to regenerate. Rinse and repeat as necessary until you make it to the next level down. Then begin again.
Frankly, the only redeeming feature in the scenario is Slack’s world wrap scripting, which is really just a bunch of fancy teleportation encounters.
While I can appreciate the effort taken to try and recreate the original game in the BOA engine, the fact remains that no effort is made to communicate that this was once a popular dungeon-delver, and so it comes off as a very poorly-written BOA scenario, or, if you guess that it is a port from the scenarioo description, it comes off as a poor adaptation.
I don’t think the style of Wizardry fits the engine, nor the modern social context of third-party scenarios well.
Concensus: Eh… unless you’re the mindless hack-and-slash type, don’t bother.
But I do realize that you people are out there. So go to it.
And you might also like it if you liked Wizardry, maybe.

The birth of a moment in time.

Levels 1-1. Rated E.
By AlecKyras, ported to BoA by Kelandon

SCORING:

Playablity: 2.
          1 Points
Plot: 3,0.
          .75 Points
Gameplay: 3,2,3.
          1.4 Points
Presentability: 4,4,4
          2 Points
The Replay Factor: 2.
          .5 Points
Novelty: 2.
          .5 Points
Scripting: 0.
          0 Points
Bugs: 0,0,0.
          -0 Points.

Lenarian Rating: 6.15 / 10

REVIEW:

I really shouldn’t have “rated” this per se, as the sole purpose of this scenario is to teach designers the process of design. One could almost describe it as a cute little piece, and I look upon it rather fondly as a simple but powerful example for future generations of psychotic storytellers.
Alec (though Kel) takes the player through the development of a map, having the party go from point A to point B, building layer upon layer with each variation.
Concensus: An absolute Must-Play for the Would-Be Designer.
And even if you’re not designing, it’s a great look at the thought process.

After a while between tasks, the Empire asked you to deal with Nephilim troubles in a remote valley.
You were told that the Nephilim in the valley were much stronger than those the Empire used to face. If possible, you’re supposed to find out why these Nephilim are so strong.

Levels 50-70. Rated T.
By Selentine

SCORING:

Playablity: 1.
          .5 Points
Plot: 0,0.
          0 Points
Gameplay: 0,0,1.
          .2 Points
Presentability: 1,2,1
          .67 Points
The Replay Factor: 0.
          0 Points
Novelty: 3.
          .75 Points
Scripting: 1.
          .25 Points
Bugs: Benefit of the doubt, 0,0.
          -0 Points.

Lenarian Rating: 2.37 / 10

REVIEW:

While the author specifies that the scenario is for levels 50 to 70, it took an HLPM God Party to survive the second onslaught of a random encounter. My level 100 party barely got through the first random encounter and was annihilated in the first round of the second. My poor level 62 party never stood a chance.
To be completely honest, I fully believed that Selentine had not beta tested at all until I looked at the scenario credits a few minutes before posting the first draft of my review.
So where to begin? The cardinal sin of editing creatures of numeric identifier lower than 234, the Vahnatai conspiracy behind the total lack of plot, or the simple fact that a level 100 party got annihilated when attacking the Nephil Hill? 
It’s a first-timer’s scenario. That much is obvious. There are a handful of working custom scripts, and the world design screams mediocre at best. I can’t say much more, aside from the fact that the Nephilim are indeed strong.
Far too strong to be out in some remote valley. In fact, with this Vahnatai Lord friend of theirs, I’m surprised that they hadn’t conquered a few cities at the very least by the time the party comes in.
Concensus: It’s a great scenario to play if you need to learn exactly what not to do when designing.
In fact… heck, now that I know that it was indeed beta tested, I’m toying with the thought that it may have been designed with the anti-example purpose in mind…
Nah.

A magical experiment goes wrong. You are called to clean up the mess.

Levels 30-46. Rated T.
By Smoo

SCORING:

Playablity: 2
          1 Points
Plot: 3,3.
          1.5 Points
Gameplay: 3,2,3.
          1.6 Points
Presentability: 3,3,3
          1.5 Points
The Replay Factor: 3.
          .75 Points
Novelty: 4.
          1 Points
Scripting: 3.
          .75 Points
Bugs: 0,0,0.
          -0 Points.

Lenarian Rating: 8.10 / 10

REVIEW:

I have to admit, after playing a rather buggy version of Backwater Calls, I went into Smoo’s second release with rather low expectations. These expectations were quickly surpassed by an impressive attention to detail and a beautifully executed plot twist. I’d been warned, and I still didn’t see it coming.
The Party is contracted to deal with a rogue mage who killed all of the children in a region while trying to bless them. This, of course, is not as easy as it sounds, and is made even more difficult when… well, you’ll just have to find out for yourself.
Plenty of puzzles, combat, Ermarian lore, a few mind games, and a good deal of fun. I took to it with a level 35 party and the combat was challenging enough to be fun without many reloads.
The only thing I need to point out is that the rocks can be moved by looking at them.
Concensus: It’s a good, solid scenario, worth being in everyone’s library.
So go pick it up from Shadow Vale or wherever and enjoy it.

‘Nuff Said.

Levels 100-1. Rated E.
By Dintiradan

SCORING:

Playablity: 2.
          1 Points
Plot: 2,0.
          .5 Points
Gameplay: 3,0,2.
          1 Points
Presentability: 2,2,3
          1.17 Points
The Replay Factor: 2.
          .5 Points
Novelty: 1.
          .25 Points
Scripting: 0.
          .0 Points
Bugs: 0,0,0.
          -0 Points.

Lenarian Rating: 4.42 / 10

REVIEW:

I had originally planned to not rate gag scenarios. Then I played this one.
Concensus: ’Nuff Said 
In fact, the only reason why I have a tagline is to say that it’s the only reason to have a tagline.

To prepare a party for scenarios.

Levels 1-100. Rated E.
By Kelandon

SCORING:

Utility Scenario. No score.

REVIEW:

I feel that I should, at the very least, mention the usefulness of the HLPM, in the off-chance that some poor first-timer looks to this site for guidance.
The premise is very simple. Make a new party, enter this scenario, follow the directions, exit scenario with a fully customized leveled party. While the party in question won’t have the strength, experience, and artifacts from previous scenarios, it is a good way to suddenly have a party ready for a scenario that you wouldn’t otherwise have a party within the level range for.
I find it useful for creating testing parties, myself. 
Concensus: Tis useful. Tis amusing. Pick it up and play with it.
It even has some scenario reviews, to an extent. Don’t quite remember the last time Kel updated it, though…

Back to ToC

It seemed like a simple mission. Show up. Kill a vampire. But then things got complicated …

Levels 25-35. Rated E.
By Spiderweb Software

SCORING:

Playablity: 2
          1 Points
Plot: 2,3.
          1.25 Points
Gameplay: 3,2,3.
          1.6 Points
Presentability: 3,2,3
          1.33 Points
The Replay Factor: 3.
          .75 Points
Novelty: 2.
          .5 Points
Scripting: 2.
          .5 Points
Bugs: Zip, 0,0.
          -0 Points.

Lenarian Rating: 6.98 / 10

REVIEW:

It’s widely accepted that this was Jeff’s incentive for getting non-designers to become early adopters. I wonder if he just wanted to work his creative juices on something other than the plotline for a flagship product. Regardless, I think it could have done better, and so do a lot of others, but that’s just me, and you’ll have to play it for yourself to form an opinion.
Show up, get hired to stop massive numbers of undead, find out the guy who hired you is a poor but stubborn liar, run off to kill a vampire… and start getting lectured to by the vampire.
You really aren’t paid enough for this.
The dungeon-delving motif in The Valley of Dying Things meets the political back-and-forth play of A Small Rebellion in a cute little story that spins off from a side quest in A3. There are a good deal of side quests for a scerario its size, lots of areas to explore, and a good deal of loot to find, if you know how to look. Combat is balanced, the scenery is pretty.
Only thing it’s really missing is a good in-game plotline.
Concensus: Consider this among the par for all third-party scenarios.
And it still scores on the higher end of the rating scale. I wonder if that means something.